I would like to make a wiki page with links to useful resources.
This issue cased me problems last week.
I don't know what the conventions are.
I don't know what the best tools are.
I don't know what others are doing.
I don't have good examples.
I am interested specifically in 'very small, edge' examples.
I'm also interested in FLOSS documentation tools for recording set ups, pref web based that will translate well to Android.
D
From: Don Gould
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 4:18 PM
To: North American Network Operators' Group
Subject: Simple Cable Marking StandardsI would like to make a wiki page with links to useful resources.
This issue cased me problems last week.
I don't know what the conventions are.
I don't know what the best tools are.
I don't know what others are doing.
I don't have good examples.
I am interested specifically in 'very small, edge' examples.
I'm also interested in FLOSS documentation tools for recording set ups,
pref web based that will translate well to Android.
One thing I will do if I have some spare time at the colo is wander the aisles and see what other folks have done in certain situations. Many people put some nice work on display, so, admire it and learn from it. Some of it "looks" really nice but can be a pain to work with, too so you have to consider how it would be to have to pull a blade from that switch that looks really nice at first until you consider having to actually replace anything in that network.
The conventions often work back to whatever is appropriate in your environment. Some people use TIA/EIA 606-A as a starting point and work out from there. Other shops are much less formal. Still others do no labeling whatsoever.
My employer's standard for copper data and voice wiring was already pretty well formed by the time I started. There really wasn't anything in place for fiber, so I developed a standard for naming racks, fiber bays within a rack, and connectors within a bay. Cross-connect information (source rack/bay/connector(s), destination rack/bay/connector(s), anong with useful items like jumper type/length and any free-form notes, end-to-end test results, etc will eventually be stored in a database, using a path ID (analogous to a telco circuit ID) that is labeled on each jumper in the path and the interface descriptions of the end devices. It's one of those projects I've been wanting to get back to, but workload and diminishing DB/development kung-fu have conspired against me so far 
The long-term goal is to get that all of that accessible from a web app that can be access in the field by a tech with a laptop or a mobile device.
jms
Some of it "looks" really nice but can be a pain to work with, too so you have to consider how it would be to have to pull a blade from that switch that looks really nice at first until you consider having to actually replace anything in that network.
This advice is huge, and often only learned after both being the guy to wire up two fully populated chassis (240ish rj45's) in a rack, and then come to the realization that you can't remove blades without unplugging all the cables of the four blades surrounding it. That isn't the worst of it, the realization that any future blade replacements on either chassis will cost you that same pain is what really hurts.